Principal and teacher reports of strategies to enforce anti-tobacco policies in Florida middle and high schools

This study describes anti-tobacco policies implemented by middle and high schools in Florida. All schools had in place formal anti-tobacco policies but implementation of those policies was more rigorous at the middle school level. Principals and tobacco use prevention education teachers reported the formal and informal strategies used to enforce their school's anti-tobacco policies. Punitive enforcement strategies were more commonly reported than nonpunitive strategies. Enforcement strategies were significantly associated with several features of school settings including number of supports for teachers' efforts, teachers' perceptions of program success, and training opportunities for teachers. Middle school staff reported using significantly more enforcement strategies than high school staff, and their strategies were more likely to be associated with school context variables. Implications of these findings for the maintenance of anti-tobacco programs in secondary schools are discussed.